22 Degree Halo, Insect Transit and Contrail
July 14, 2006
Provided by: Laurent Laveder, Optics of the Atmosphere Gallery
Summary authors & editors: Laurent Laveder
The photo above shows not only a nice example of a 22 degree solar halo, which is bisected by a contrail, but also an insect transit. Halos often develop as sunlight is refracted through randomly oreiented (more or less), pencil shaped ice crystals, present in cirrus clouds. Remember to always shield your eyes when photographing in the vicinity of the Sun.
The bug wasn't noticed until after the photo was taken. Initially, it looked like a raptor of some kind, but upon further inspection antenna could be observed. Photo taken from Bretagne, France in May of 2006.
Photo details: Canon 350D, Peleng 8mm Fish-eye 1:8, 1/2000 sec., 100 AS
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